The antique route show: 'First ever built-in sat nav' from 1930 which used a map on a scroll to guide motorists

You might think that in-car map readers are a recent invention - given that you need satellite navigation technology to make them work.

But a crude form of the car tech was actually around as early as 1930.

The Iter Avto, which used a map on a scroll, is believed to be the first onboard direction guide.

Just like the modern devices such as a Tom Tom or Garmin, the device was positioned on the dashboard of a car - and came with a set of paper maps.

The Iter Avto, which used a map on a scroll, is believed to be the first onboard direction guide

The device came with a set of paper maps. These were wound from one roll to another across a display and a cable connected to the speedometer controlled the scroll rate. The speed with which the display moved was proportional to the speed of the car so it always showed the correct point

These were wound from one roll to another across a display and a cable connected to the speedometer controlled the scroll rate.

In this way, the speed with which the display moved was proportional to the speed of the car so it always showed the correct point.

Like the Iter Avto, when motorists wish to turn off the road, they have to pull over to replace the map with another map that corresponds to a number on the junction.

The ingenious but fiddly device was never mass produced.

It also has a function to allow the wearer to keep golf scores, which indicates it would have been worn by a Bertie Wooster type of person from P.G. Wodehouse's famous novels.

The device was one of the key attractions at the Curious Contraptions exhibition of eccentric inventions from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, at Standen House in East Grinstead, East Sussex, in 2008.

Owner of the collection Maurice Collins, 73, from Muswell Hill, London, said at the time it was of his most unusual items.

'It's an amazing invention and I have never seen another one like it,' he said.

They've come a long way... a modern-day Tom Tom

'The idea is that if you want to go from London to Bournemouth you put that map into the watch and then as you drive along you wind the device to keep pace with where you are.

'It is very amateurish and very simplistic.

'Sadly I've never tried it myself and I'm not sure how successful it would be as a navigation device.

'It's a bit of an eccentric invention. It's the sort of thing you can imagine Bertie Wooster using and then his butler Jeeves having to dig him out of a hole.'

The wristlet would have cost around £5, which in today's money is about £45 to £50, Mr Collins added.

It comes with around 20 maps but more could be ordered to cover the entirety of the country. Most of the set journeys start from London.

Christopher Hill, then visitor services manager at Standen House, said it was an ingenious idea.

'It is a great idea but it would have been quite fiddly to keep winding the map on as you drove and when you wanted to change a map you would have to pull off the road,' he said.

'It would probably have been used by people who were taking day trips from London and would have been sold in car shops alongside driving gloves and maps.

'Modern sat navs cause a lot of problems but I think they might be a bit more reliable than this gadget.'

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Iter Avto: The antique route show: The 'sat nav' from 1930 which used a map on a scroll